My sole mode of personal transportation is my bicycle. I've never driven a car and I'm quite proud of it.
This blog is my place to rant and rave about cycling issues as I see them.

This is not a place for critics of integrated cycling - that conversation is over - segregation has no future - studies show it is not a safe or useful strategy, nor is it a healthy philosophy.

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Airzound

After the many incidents in the past few weeks of honking (whether well intentioned or not) I've decided to (reluctantly) start using an Airzound horn again.

I attached one to my bike on my old commute, but the honking incidents were so rare that I never once used it, so I removed it. But since September I've had four or five incidents of honking - mostly friendly "Hey, I'm behind you" toots, but they're still loud enough to frighten the bejeezus out of me, and in every case, I've seen these idiots well before they decided to use their horn.

With the weekly incidents of honking and the fact that the occasional driver still tries to squeeze by me even when I'm controlling the lane, I need some way of sending a message and venting my frustration so that I don't have a heart attack before I'm 60.

Today I was shocked by yet another motorist who appeared in my mirror 100 yards away and as soon as he was 20 yards away, she gives me a friendly 'toot' which (once more) makes me nearly jump out of my skin. I need a way to let these bozos know that it's not alright to do that, and I think the Airzound is it.

One of the things I dislike about the Airzound is that I've seen so many YouTube videos in which cyclists use it when it's just unnecessary - they seem to get 'horn-happy' and buzz motorists in the same way that I've been buzzed by motorists who think they need to warn me when they really don't. Not that I would use it that way, but it makes me a little uncomfortable with strapping one to the bike - I fear it will make me look like one of those horn-happy folks.

About Me

I'm from Sheffield, Yorkshire. I lived my first 22 years in England. Between 1984 and 1986, I cycled 10,000 miles throughout Western Europe. I met my American wife in Austria in 1988 and moved to the USA in 1989. I've worked as a shop assistant, a draughtsman, an artist, a bartender, a picture framer, a writer and a genealogical researcher. My daughter and I are probably "The Silver Spring Cyclists" - the only people in town who commute on the bike every day through fair weather or foul: rain, snow, hot or cold. No matter what, we're out on our bikes.

Quotes on Cycling and Society

"When a cow follows the herd, it ends up at a slaughterhouse. When cyclists use bike facilities, they end up at an intersection, often with the same unhappy result as the cow. Use the road - it's safer!" - me again.

"Vehicular cycling techniques have not been tried and found difficult. They have been presumed difficult and not tried." - P.M. Summer, paraphrasing G.K. Chesterton

"If American bicycle advocacy leaders had championed the civil rights movement, the 'Dream' would have been reserved seating in the back of the bus." - Jack R. Taylor

"The task of the 'protected' bicycle facility is to hide collision participants from each other right up to the point of impact." - John Schubert

"Position on the road is by far the most important influence that a cyclist has over his safety. Indeed, the loss of this ability to influence the actions of others is one reason why road-side cycle tracks and shared footways increase danger at junctions. Many cyclists fail to position themselves properly because of their fear of traffic, yet it is this very fear that puts them most at risk. Encouraging unsafe behaviour by directing cyclists to more hazardous positions does nobodyany favours." - John Franklin

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so" - Mark Twain